ICE Friday

Earlier this week temps were in the 80s, today the high temperature is expected to be 28 degrees.

Freezing rain started to pelt highways and power lines Thursday evening, leaving a quarter-million customers without electricity Friday morning (only about 2,000 in The Colony).

Schools districts canceled classes and many businesses gave workers the day off,

and frigid roads and sidewalks were mostly empty.

Cars that have ventured out have been getting stuck on the frozen ruts in the road.

I called the UHC Emergency line this morning. "The Plano office is closed on Friday,
but those that can work from home are encouraged to do so." 
So that means...No day off for me!

 

This is how deep the ice/sleet is at my back door.

There is no snow...only hard packed ice.

This will take some time to melt as the temperatures are not expected
to get above freezing until Monday.

Our newly planted tree is handling the ice pretty well.
Our maple tree has not lost any branches. Our neighbors were not so lucky.
Each of them has trees that were still heavy laden with leaves and now have branches/limbs
on the ground.

Pretty view of the icicles on the fence

 Our three magnolia trees are all bent over, heavy with ice.
Two of the three neighbors pictures in the background are bent over and the trunks are touching the fence. Winds are expected to be about 19 miles per hour for Saturday and Sunday and
the media is predicting a lot more tree damage and power outages due to trees doing down in the wind.

 The icing of the holly bush out the kitchen window.

I luckily had stocked up on my groceries so don't need to venture out until Tuesday.
Hopefully this mess will be mostly gone by then!

Here are some interesting photos from around The Colony..courtesy of Facebook.

Pier 121 Marina collapse..lots of damaged boats

Top Golf nets...caught the ice.

 TopGolf netting/poles have been damaged by the ice storm.
Completely bent over with the weight of the ice on the poles/net.